Fountain pen



July 8, 1952 J. A. SHEA FOUNTAIN PEN Filed NOV. 6, 1948 lll/1,1111

IN VEN TOR.

alz Mga Patented July 8, 1952 f.

' UNITED STATES PATENT; v.()liFICl-I.. Y' f 2,602,422 f Y .v

FOUNTAIN PEN y lohn A. Shea, Jersey .City,rN. J. Application November`6, 1948, Serial No. 58,678

Z-Claims.

4This invention relates to fountain'pens and more particularly to themeans of .holding .the cap .to the pen body.

Heretofore, due to tolerances in the manufacture of the fountain penparts, the .cap would loosen from the body. An attempt Vwas Ymade tosolve this diicultyoi temporarily attaching lthe `cap to the body, byforming the normally circular bore of the cap into anoval shape, and

then by pressure converting the oval-shape toa.

circular shape symmetrical to the outer circular shape of the pen body,or to a circular ring on the pen body. The objection to this proposal isthat the cap with an oval Ashaped bore appears incomplete to the user,or makes the impression of a second. Other efforts have'been made,without entirely satisfactory results'.

This invention contemplates the solution 'of the problem and consistsV`in the provision of a ring directly on the pen bodyhaving a bore tofit a cylindrical shoulder of a pen body which ring has an outerperipheral portion of -a contour symmetrical to the inner bore of thering, that is, the ring has a constant thickness. One axis of the boreof the ring is larger than the diameter of the cylindrical shoulder ofthe pen body, and the axis at right angles to that axis, is smaller thanthat diameter. The'inner contour of the cap is circular, and concentricwith the cylindrical shoulder, though radially spaced therefrom,vandwhen the cap is applied to the outer contour of the ring, a tightfit is obtained, by the inner circular contour of the cap having adiameter slightly less than the greatest outer axis of the ring, thatdiameter being longer than the shortest outer diameter of the ring.Thereby, a slight warping of the cap end takes place when the cap isapplied to the ring, but this is so small as not to be noticeable. Anadvantage results in that a spacing of the capI from the ring remains,for the passage of air, thus preventing a suction pull when the cap isbeing removed from the ring.

The vinvention will be further described hereinafter, an embodimentshown in the drawings, and the` invention will be nally pointed out inthe claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of the improved P611;

bFig 2 is an enlarged, partial sectional view; and

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on line 3,-3 of Fig. 1.

Similar characters of reference indicate cor- (Cl. 1Z0-42.05)

responding parts throughoutthe various views.

lof the casing IIabutsagainst the end of the Vring I3. The ring I3 beingdisposed between'the shoulder I6 and the casing IIb, is held'againstaxial movement. The sack I2 and the-screwthreaded partdlaoft'hecylindrical portion II is concealed'by the pen casing I'Ib', as known'.

The improvementconsists in Vhaving the'ring I3, which is preferably ofU-shaped cross section as shown, so shaped as to be of thesame radialthickness throughoutjbu't instead of being circular, it has one axislarger than an axis at right angle thereto. The mean length of theseaxes is substantially equal to the outer diameter of the cylindricalportion II. When the ring lI3 is applied to portion II, a snug fit isprovided against the shoulder I6, and in having the inner peripheralportion I5 of an axis length smaller than the outer diameter of theportion II, a tight t is obtained, the larger axis at right angles tothe shorter axis being reduced to the extent of the enlargement of thesmaller axis, by the pressure exerted by the portion II against the boreof the ring I3. Thereby, the ring I3 is held permanently on the portionII. The outer long axis I8 in relation to the outer short axis I9 of theouter contour I1 is in direct lproportion to the inner diameter of theopen end of the cap 20, so that due to the inherent resiliency of thematerialr forming the open circular end of the cap, one inner diameterof the open end of the cap will be slightly extended, and an innerdiameter of the open end of the cap at right angles to said rst diameterwill slightly contract.

In Fig. 3, one embodiment is shown in which the portion II iscylindrical, and shown as a circular peripheral contour, the smallerinner axis of the bore of the ring I3 provides a snug fit with theportion I I, and the larger inner axis of the bore I5 of the ring I3 atright angles to the smaller axis, is longer than the diameter of theportion II, thus providing spaces as shown. When a cap with a circularbore is applied to the outer contour I1 of the ring I3, then a snug fitalong the axis I8 is obtained and spaces 2l are provided along the axisI9, the axis I9 being at right angles to the axis I8. In each case, thediameter of the circular contour corresponds to the mean axis of theinner or outer contour of the ring I3.

The invention is then the combination of a ring having a uniformthickness, with a bore to fasten it to a part of the pen body and withan outer peripheral contour to fastenaap; thereto. The ring hasinnerandouter elliptic contours, the mean axis of the outer contour of the ringcorresponding to the inner diameter of the cir'- cular contour of theopen end of the cap, and-the. c f

mean axis of the inner contour of the ring corresponding to the diameterof th'ecylindrical portion II of the pen body.V Thus, when thecap isapplied, a secure hold is obtained, since on the application of the capthe axis I8`ma'y` yield. 1l

slightly in view of the yspace between the inner contour I5 and theportion Il. Also, ventilation spaces ZI between the outer contour of thering and the bore of the cap are provided, which permit thereadyvremovalof the cap.

The rings I3 are conveniently made by manufacturing circular rings ofthe same thickness throughout, that is, of concentric inner and outercontour, and then subjecting-suchy circular rings to a slight pressurealong any diameter, whereby the circular bore and external :contour-'isslightly attened.

shoulder adjacent said outer part anda screwthreaded portion extendingbeyond said subcaliber portion, a casing having interior threads I donot desire to be limiteur() the exact dtails for engaging said screwthreads, and having an end, and a metallic ring of uniform radialthickness throughout its circumference, seated in a groove formed bysaid subcaliber portion, said adjacent end of the casing, and saidshoulder, said ring vhaving a radially inner and outer concentricelliptical contour, the mean radius of the largest and smallestdiameters of the outer contour ofthe ring `being substantially equal tothe vinner .diameter'of the cairci'ila'r open vLend of the bore of aAcap' for the fduntain pen, "and the radius of the smallest diameter ofthe inner contour of the ring being slightly less than the outerdiameter of the subcaliber cylindrical portion of the pen body, wherebythe pressure of the cap on 'the outer'contour of the ring is translatedyieldingly through .thering to the subcaliber cylindrical portion of thepen body.

2. A'fountain pen comprising a pen body having means dening a shoulderand a threaded,

'reduced portion'extending beyond said shoulder,

The following references areof record inthe le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS ANumber Name Date 2,278,907 Baker ",Aprql, 19422,414,245 j v Rudd 1 j Janin, 1947

